Effective Public Participation in Municipal Service Delivery: A Case of Merafong Municipality

Abstract

In the Republic of South Africa (SA), issues such as unemployment, poverty and inequality have plagued a nation since the dawn of democracy. Local government key mandate is to play a strategic development role especially within the context of serving people on the ground. This has to be achieved by promoting public participation, community involvement and practicing good governance. SA comprises of 257 metropolitan, district and local municipalities. This number comprises eight metropolitans, 44 district and 205 local municipalities. Public participation is viewed as a key methodology that is effective in addressing service delivery at a local level within municipalities.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the role of public participation in addressing service delivery by examining multiple relevant scholar reviews. The study focused on the role ward committee members play in their role in public participation. The author’s study advanced the notion that public participation affects service delivery and that ward committee members do have a role to play in promoting public participation within their communities.

Findings Merafong Municipality has been plagued by many service delivery challenges and protest. Service delivery issues have been a constant challenge in the municipality, ranging from lack of refuge collection, sewage blockages, non-functionality of street lights and sinkholes etc as indicated by residents. Ward committee members are viewed to be doing their utmost albeit with limited resources to try and assist communities. The ward committee members lack capacitation in skills, training, educational framework, and financial support to be able to further carry out their mandate Conclusion Public participation is a relative concept that is understood by municipalities as being important in addressing the various issues they face, but it is in the implementation of this process that proves to be a serious challenge across various municipalities. Residents understand the importance of ward committee members being an important catalyst to address their problem through to the municipality, therefore, the municipality should adequately capacitate the ward committee members.